1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electronic calculating devices. In particular, the invention relates to a handheld calculating device having a complete pipe reference source for solving a variety of piping problems.
2. Description of Related Art
Pipe fitters, pipe fabricators, and plumbers all have jobs that require pipe fabrication and/or installation. Pipe fitting tasks typically require a person to use a calculator, and to refer to reference books for data and formulas for solving a variety of piping problems that occur during the fabrication and/or installation pipes. One problem is that most fitters, fabricators, welders, plumbers and others working with pipes do not learn enough mathematics to realize their full potential, so that many workers do not have the ability to remember the formulas required, or require considerable time to figure out how to use a formula properly, even with the assistance of an electronic calculator. This results in the craftsman having to use far less accurate calculations and more time consuming methods to fabricate or fit the piping being worked on.
Every project superintendent that has any sizable amount of piping on their job knows that among the journeyman there are many different skill levels. A person in supervision is charged with the duty of assigning the appropriate tasks to the appropriate journeyman. More often than not there is the problem of not enough craftsmen with a high level of skill to go around. The calculator of the present invention is the equalizer a craftsman needs to bring him or her to a higher level of performance in order to enjoy a previously unattainable level of success in their career. This translates into a higher earning potential and more efficient job performance.
Various calculating devices have been programmed to provide various functions for assisting work related activities. However, the relevant art does not provide a calculator capable of performing the necessary calculations required for pipe fabrication and/or installation. Nor does the relevant art provide such a calculator having a graphical interface to assist a user in performing the necessary calculations required for pipefitting applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,426, issued May 5, 1992 to Bergstresser, Sr. et al., shows a handheld calculator that allows welders to manipulate welding and cutting data for a job at hand. The calculator includes a complete welding reference source providing on-the-spot answers to problems and can calculate data necessary for the completion of a welding task. The calculator includes a saving and retrieving function that allows a user to quickly retrieve information from a subset or compare a calculation to a subset. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,412, issued Dec. 26, 2000 to Simons, discloses a handheld medical calculator and medical reference device having an input keypad and an output screen connected to a processor with memory to perform specific clinical functions. Some of the clinical functions require accessing various medical reference tables to perform complex medical calculations.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,029, issued Nov. 23, 1993 to Ramsay, discloses a chemical calculator providing rapid and convenient ways to retrieve information and perform calculations of chemical elements and chemical formulas obtained by direct entry from a periodic table keypad. These calculations allow chemists to compute chemical transformations, reaction yields, limiting reactants, and empirical formulas. U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,044, issued May 10, 1988 to Stover et al., describes a handheld calculator for specialized dimensional calculations. The calculator may be used to calculate the dimensions and unit price of lumber.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,057, issued Sep. 7, 1976 to Katz et al., discloses an electronic calculator having a limited stored program capability and which is adapted to perform a plurality of problems particularly useful to aircraft pilots. The programs stored in the calculator cause sequential operation, including the demand for manual entry of necessary data, to calculate a desire result. U.S. patent Publication No. 2003/0126166, published Jul. 3, 2003, discloses a handheld computing device providing instructions for a user to graphically display vectors on a display screen. The device performs vector operations for one or more vectors using an input device while concurrently graphically viewing the vector and the vector changes on the display screen.
Several calculating devices include soft or programmable keys that provide a user with various functions that assist in performing desired calculations. U.S. Pat. No. 4,823,311, issued Apr. 18, 1989 to Hunter et al., shows a calculator keypad having keys with labels created by a display and subject to interactive change as the user desires. Specialized function keys with different functional labels provide a user with various desired functions. U.S. Pat. No. 4,107,782, issued to Cochran, discloses a user programmable calculator having special keys in addition to the numerical and function keys normally incorporated into a calculator in order to facilitate responding to data functional information requests by the calculator.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,455, issued Jul. 14, 1987 to Kuo, describes a method of manipulating a calculator using special function keys and instructions from a selected instruction card. The instruction cards provide formulas and equations to achieve various desired calculations. U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,627, issued Jul. 12, 1977 to Dickinson et al., describes a handheld calculator with keys for performing arithmetic, trigonometric, and logarithmic functions. U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,057, issued Jul. 25, 1989 to Patton, discloses a calculating device having stored menus with labels of operations that are performed on mathematical expressions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,983, issued Sep. 22, 1987 to Oda et al., shows a calculator capable of executing formula calculations with different operational sequences. The calculator comprises means for selecting and designating either the sequential operation mode that sequentially executes formula calculations according to individual key operations, or a formula memory operation mode that executes operations after entry of the sequential operation mode. U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,251, issued Mar. 7, 1978 to Hamilton, describes an electronic calculator having an instruction word memory for storing instruction words that is addressable by the address register, and instruction word decoder logic for decoding the instruction words and for controlling the arithmetic unit in response thereto.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, a pipe reference and calculating device solving the aforementioned problems is desired.